Evergreen Trees Not Always Green Garden Tips

With the Christmas trees well spent and mostly already discarded, you'd think I would have tired of talking about evergreens. Well, I'm not.

My thoughts are about a couple of trees which seem to be evergreen, as they are needled, but really aren't truly in that class. I'm referring to the Larch and the Dawn Redwood trees. They are deciduous.

The Larch or Tamarack is a native tree in Canada and the northern areas of the United States from Wisconsin to Maine. Two western species also are in the northwest Canadian borders. Usually, in our area the Larch trees are planted as ornamentals or occasionally for timber. American, the variety first mentioned, the European, Japanese and Chinese all will grow here as tall beauties - up to 150 feet high.

In spring the new light green needles are a sight to behold. Lookaround now for a "bare" evergreen and watch it give a spring show. There is a hillside of them just west of Route 100 about three or four miles north of Fogelsville.

The Dawn Redwood, also known as the metasequoia, is a native of China. Three living trees were found in 1945 by an expedition. The species has been traced to prehistoric times from fossil remains. Seeds were collected in 1948 and were sent to the Arnold Arboretum. From this beginning we have such needle-losing trees. They are beautiful and unique.

It is a tree available from many nurseries and has been growing in our area for years. One beautiful specimen that comes to mind is at Stahley's Nursery, Schnecksville, along Route 309. It, too, is a tree for spring watching.

While these two are not really evergreen, they are conifers or cone- bearing.

SCARECROWS AND ALLIES

I doubt if an animated character would be very effective at this time of the year. Objects as such are supposed to ward off the enemies of the patch - birds usually. While traveling recently, I saw a ragged old fellow standing lonely in the snow.

If you've taken a glance at the new garden catalogs, you'll have seen scary things for this year's battles. Those vinyl inflated snakes, six feet long, should keep the robins from the ripening strawberries. The blow-up man- size plastic scarecrows should attract attention, maybe scare the gardener away, too! They're not for me.

The owl has a good reputation for smarts. Two types, a molded model and an inflated one, can be mounted on a post to overlook the plants. This fooler may be the most effective.

There have been lots of homemade gadgets that work, more or less. The real scarecrow can be a work of art. A piece of black garden hose lying on the ground is a quick item. Flashing aluminum pie pans dangling from string are eye-catching just like some twisting small mirrors.

Actually, while not a scare factor, a net is perhaps the most effective, next to a watchful cat, for keeping birds away from tender crops. The nets are not too expensive, as they are good for four or five years. For rabbits, my chicken wire in an inverted V works pretty well over the garden row.

My, how sweet they smell. No other flowering plant has the same fragrance. You watch the bulbs send up their reed-like leaves, and then you see the stem with a swelling capped blossom bud. Before long those clustered while flowers are in full glory.

You marvel at their beauty and the room-filling aroma. Then, much to your surprise, they are gone. What's next?

The bulbs have done their duty - can they be saved to repeat their performance? Really, there's not much of a chance, and they usually are considered not worth keeping. Sure, you can try, but remember these are indoor-type bulbs.

To do the best you can, consider that the old bulbs are worn out and new ones must be developed with the green leaves doing the job. That means that there must be a steady supply of plant food (soluble) given to the growing medium (soil) or water. Light, too, is a must.

It's not a sure thing, as the leaves need to stay green and productive for three or four months. Maybe it all isn't worth it. It's up to you!

PLANT HORMONES

Recently, I reviewed a new publication from Penn State University Extension designed for professional greenhouse flower growers. It deals with "Pest Management and Growth Regulators."

Naturally there were plenty of guides for controlling all kinds of diseases, insects and weeds. The section that really was a surprise dealt with growth hormones.

Eighteen different materials are listed for plant development. These chemicals can reduce plant height, retard or promote flowering, increase rooting, promote shoot emergence and chemically pinch plants. The hormones are individually designed for specific jobs or specific plants.

Most of us know and have used Rootone to assist in rooting cuttings, but such names as Maintain CF 125, Slo-grow, Florel and A-Rest, to mention a few, are strangers to me.